Trutanich faces low morale, poorly trained staff

City Attorney Carmen Trutanich inherited an office from predecessor Rocky Delgadillo that is rife with morale problems and needs a major investment in staff training and other resources, according to a report authored by his transition team.

Trutanich, who took office July 1, assembled the team of more than 100 volunteer outside attorneys to examine the agency's operation, identify problems and recommend solutions.

The 156-page report also urges Trutanich to set "Big Hairy Audacious Goals" to improve the office, which has 540 attorneys and wide civil and criminal prosecutorial powers. Among those goals were improving morale and training and increasing the budget.

John Franklin, a spokesman for Trutanich, said the city attorney is combing through the report and its recommendations.

"The city attorney is taking this very seriously," Franklin said, "and it talks about problems that cannot be fixed overnight or even in six months."

But Franklin said many of the recommendations might have to be delayed because of the city's ongoing financial crisis and the cuts Trutanich must make to his department's $97.8 million budget.

"We are taking an 18 percent hit," Franklin said.

Aides to Delgadillo - who served in the office for eight years and is now eyeing a run for state attorney general in 2010 - said he had not seen the report and had no comment on it.

The committee working in the transition team's Law Firm Management group "was advised repeatedly that morale in the office is low," the document said.

"Low morale compounded by inadequate funding and current job insecurity may hinder the overall effectiveness of the office and the ability to accomplish the policy goals of City Attorney Trutanich."

The report said there were a number of reasons for the malaise, including the city's budget problems but also the lack of transparency in promotions, the assignment of cases and the lack of proper equipment.

For example, the department's attorneys have to share 129 outdated Blackberry devices. There are no laptop computers for the attorneys and, even if they had them, there has been no training in how to best use them in court.

Attorneys now receive little formal training when first hired and have few continuing-education opportunities. Many of the less-experienced attorneys learned on the job what was expected of them, with little correction offered by supervisors.

One of the issues Trutanich campaigned on was creating an Academy of Justice, which would provide training for new attorneys in the office and help keep experienced prosecutors up-to-date on the latest techniques and laws. The proposal was wholeheartedly embraced by the transition team.

Judges also weighed in to the transition team, saying many of the criminal attorneys came to court in improper attire, were ill-prepared or were forced to delay court proceedings as they checked with superiors on proposed settlements.

At least one political expert said the report was unusual for the extent to which it criticized Trutanich's predecessor.

"Usually when you do have a transition team you never see reports on what they're recommending and usually they are kinder to the person in office," said Bob Stern, president of the Los Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies.

"But I think this is a good idea and I wish more officials would let us know what they're planning to do once they get in office."

But one of the co-chairs of the transition team, former county District Attorney Robert Philibosian, said the report was not intended to cast blame on Delgadillo.

"This was from people with an unbiased view," Philibosian said. "What this is meant to do is point out what's the current situation, here's some new ideas and here's some innovations that should be looked at."

Philibosian said he helped write a similar transition report for Delgadillo eight years ago, looking at the department's criminal branch.

Former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg, who also co-chaired the transition team, said it will set a bar for Trutanich.

"Law practices have changed a lot and we were looking at what would be the most modern law practice out there," Hertzberg said. "We have set challenges for him to deal with, to make the changes that are necessary and the voters can decide in four years if he has met that goal."

Hertzberg said the biggest problem facing the office is financial, but that can be met by winning liability cases.

"Hopefully, the city is smart enough to reinvest that money in this office to allow it to do more," Hertzberg said.

Jane Usher, a special assistant to Trutanich who served as executive director of the transition team, said many of the issues raised - such as morale and personnel issues - will not require major outlays of funds.

"What we are trying to do is change the culture of the office," Usher said. "That comes from leadership and effective management."

As an example, Usher said criminal attorneys complained about a lack of support for their efforts, with simple things such as having digital cameras to take pictures of evidence or video cameras to record interviews.

Throughout the report, Trutanich is urged to appeal to large law firms in the city to assist with advice on everything from handling cases and training to information technology needs. Also, the report said a number of firms would provide pro bono help with cases.

"The city has a number of world-class law firms, corporate and non-profit law departments, law schools and schools of management," the report said. "The City Attorney should reach out to these resources to form a permanent management advisory group."

The advisory group would help Trutanich sort out the various recommendations and make sure they are implemented.

City Controller Wendy Greuel recently started an audit of the city attorney's workers' compensation program and the use of private attorneys. Greuel spokesman Ben Golombek said the work on it has just begun.

In examining the overall issues of private attorneys, the transition team said the hiring of private attorneys needed to be more closely monitored with checks on the expenses for the firm.